Silver medals for Dacorum & Tring AC’s star sprinters

Two of Dacorum & Tring AC’s star sprinters came away with silver medals from the English Age Group Indoor Championships held at the England Institute of Sport in Sheffield.

Chenna Okoh, 15, won his heat in the U17 men’s 400m with a PB of 50.33s, and promptly broke it two hours later in the final, with a national-class time of 49.70s.

Although he recorded exactly the same time as the winner, Joe Milton of Liverpool, Chenna was awarded the silver in the race. The two are now ranked joint-first in the 2015 UK rankings for the distance.

Chenna, who is a full year younger than Milton, is only in his first year in the U17 category, and will be looking forward to adding to his medal haul as he heads towards the outdoor season.

His previous best at the distance had been the 50.95s he ran in January at London’s Lee Valley.

Team-mate Dominic Ashwell also secured silver in the U17 boys’ 60m in a time of 6.88s.

Despite the superb result, he was disappointed not to have matched his semi-final PB time of 6.82s – faster than the 6.85s recorded by eventual gold medallist Jona Efoloko of Sale.

Dom is still ranked first overall in the UK at the distance for U17 men in 2015, having also run 6.82s at Lee Valley in January – a time that puts him fourth overall in the all-time UK list, which is headed by former Olympian Mark Lewis-Francis..

Gavin Town, Chenna and Dom’s coach at Dacorum & Tring AC, praised their efforts, saying: “The event was a great moment for the boys - I’m proud of them!”

The duo have been invited to compete in their respective events at the prestigious Welsh Athletics Indoor International meet, due to be held this weekend at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff.